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Women are strong. Women are agents of change. Yet women in poor communities bear almost the entire responsibility for providing the basic needs for their families, yet are largely left without resources.

Our guest blogger today is Teresa Larsen - a dental hygienist, a long time CHOICE supporter, and humanitarian. She recently returned from an expedition to Guatemala with our partner Dr. Roy Hammond with Smiles for Life. This organization trains men and women in extreme rural areas around the world in basic dental skills. In this blog, Teresa talks about her path and her personal challenge.

There are people in this world that do crazy, unthinkable things to make the world a better place. Elijah is one of those people doing crazy things. He lives in the Silaloni area of Kenya - outside of Mombasa. Kenya is one of the countries where many people live on less than $1.90 a day. Extreme poverty is defined by the World Bank as living on an average of US $1.90 a day or less. Families in these conditions represent well over a billion people on the planet, with nearly double that amount living on less than just $2.50. But, poverty is more than a lack of income. Extreme poverty is multidimensional.

Personal determination is a characteristic highly sought after by CHOICE Humanitarian in its recipients. Susmita Gurung, a CHOICE recipient from Nepal that displayed a high level of personal determination has a story worthy of sharing. Susmita, a 17-year-old girl from the village of Bangre, has a goal to help others by becoming an English teacher. She has faced many hard situations almost from birth but is still determined to attain her goal.

On the evening of Friday, September 23, several VCBO team members were invited to attend CHOICE Humanitarian’s Fundraising Gala. The night included a silent auction, dinner, and a live auction. It was a wonderful night full of inspiring stories, excellent music, great food and of course, wonderful company.

What is the price of confidence? To one Nepalese entrepreneur, confidence was four piglets and the dedication to reach beyond the life he once lived. The family of Chandra Bahadur was identified by CHOICE Humanitarian as one living in extreme poverty in the village of Bhorletar, Nepal. Although Chandra was a hardworking craftsman and family man, he and his family still struggled to meet even their most basic needs.

Bringing health care to a community that has never had it before is no small task. In December 2014, a new hospital was inaugurated in Nueva Concepcion, Guatemala. For the first time, 13,000 people had access to medical care. CHOICE Humanitarian and 23 communities in the Chulac Region joined forces with other NGO’s, religious organizations, business and government organizations to create this long needed facility. Prior to the completion, residents had to travel 65 miles for hospital care.

Sikaab’e is a state of the art technical school and it is the only one of its kind in the Polochic Region and provides education and training for farmers and high school students ages 14-18. Increased education and vocational training gives the locals the opportunity to stay in the community, to find a better job, or to create a business. Appropriately named, Sikaab’e means “Seek Your Path” in Q’eqchi’ and encourages entrepreneurship and innovation.

CHOICE Guatemala announces the completion of the kitchen facility on the campus of Sikaab’e! Sikaab’e is the technical school in the Plicheck Valley where CHOICE Guatemala works. It is appropriately named as Sikaab’e means “Seek Your Path” in Qeqchi and this is the first of its kind in this region and encourages entrepreneurship and innovation to farmers and high school students in the region.

Increased education and vocational training gives the locals the opportunity to stay in the community, to find a better job, or to create a business. The school was built by 19 students studying masonry who received their INTECAP government certification as masons. The second cohort graduated 19 people in culinary skills.

“I now understand the importance of giving medicine to my sheep” were the words of Mrs. Hortensia Barnabas Sotero de Ejido of the village of Detiña in Mexico after administering vitamins to her flock of sheep.

She is thankful for the advice and assistance received by the CHOICE Mexico veterinarians and now she can properly take care of the sheep and have a good production of animals in perfect health to sell for income to help support her family.

CHOICE Humanitarian is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit recognized by the IRS, and all donations to CHOICE Humanitarian are tax-deductible in accordance with IRS regulations.
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